New CEO Of Troubled UK Supermarket Tells All 500,000 Employees To Just Email Him Directly

Dave Lewis, the new CEO of beleaguered British supermarket chain
Tesco, started his first official day of work today by
messaging every single Tesco employee, asking them how to
improve their declining business.

He suggests employees — all 500,000 or more of them — email him
back directly with their suggestions.

The message reads like an excellent first-step from a corporate
chief who acknowledges the company is in trouble:

You will know only too well that it has not been an easy time for
our business. The retail market in all the countries where we
operate has become extremely tough, and is changing faster than
ever. We are losing market share in our largest market and we
need to address this with urgency.

Lewis then promises that he is going to spend time listening to
employees and customers before taking action to right the ship.

I am looking forward to getting around the business and doing a
lot of listening. In my first few days I will be talking to
colleagues at Welwyn and Cheshunt directly, and visiting as many
of our businesses and stores as possible - listening to our
customers and meeting as many of you as I can. I will also be
meeting some of our shareholders and investment analysts.

He then promises a radical experiment in corporate internal
communications:

I will always communicate openly and transparently with you and
I’d like to encourage the same from you in return. I want to hear
your thoughts and ideas. I want to hear what you think we could
do differently or better. Hopefully we will get a chance to do
this in person, but for the sake of immediacy please send
any comments or ideas to me by email.

We'd love to hear from Tesco employees, too. Email
jedwards@businessinsider.com and tell us what's going
wrong at Tesco, and what you think Lewis can do to fix it. We can
keep your identity confidential if you request it.

Here's Lewis' letter to the Tesco troops in
full:

Dear colleagues,

Today is my first day at Tesco, and so I wanted to write to you
all to tell you a bit about me, and my initial plans as I start
work as your new Chief Executive.

The most important thing I want to tell you is that I couldn’t be
more excited to be joining Tesco. It’s an honour and a privilege
to be asked to lead such a world-class and important business.

As you may know, I worked for Unilever for 27 years and so I got
to know Tesco well from the perspective of being one of its
largest suppliers. I’ve always had an enormous admiration for
Tesco, its people and its expertise.

I’ve met and worked with many Tesco people over the years, and so
I know the hard work and dedication which is a hallmark of this
business. I’m proud to be leading a team of half a million
talented and committed people around the world. In our DNA we
have always been the customers’ champion, and we will be again.

You will know only too well that it has not been an easy time for
our business. The retail market in all the countries where we
operate has become extremely tough, and is changing faster than
ever. We are losing market share in our largest market and we
need to address this with urgency.

The most important thing is that we all focus on being on top of
our game. We need to keep it simple and customer focused. I know
periods of change can be unsettling, but we have to take our
destiny in our own hands and be absolutely focused on delivering
the best possible experience for our customers. She or he will
reward us if we constantly put them first.

I am looking forward to getting around the business and doing a
lot of listening. In my first few days I will be talking to
colleagues at Welwyn and Cheshunt directly, and visiting as many
of our businesses and stores as possible - listening to our
customers and meeting as many of you as I can. I will also be
meeting some of our shareholders and investment analysts.

I will be taking some time to get to know the business better, to
understand the challenges and opportunities we face. I’ll be
looking at all parts of the business. Clearly we all want to see
an improvement in performance, but I won’t take any hasty
decisions. The decisions I take will be based on what’s best for
customers, for shareholders, for colleagues, and hence the whole
Tesco business. We have some urgent issues to deal with, but we
must address these in a way which is consistent with building a
long-term sustainable future.

I will always communicate openly and transparently with you and
I’d like to encourage the same from you in return. I want to hear
your thoughts and ideas. I want to hear what you think we could
do differently or better. Hopefully we will get a chance to do
this in person, but for the sake of immediacy please send any
comments or ideas to me by email.

I want to pay tribute to Philip [Clarke]. Over a 40-year career
in Tesco he has been a key figure in making Tesco the business it
is today, and in his time as Chief Executive he has steered the
business through the toughest conditions the sector has ever
experienced. I would like to also thank him personally for the
very professional way he has managed, and continues to manage,
the transition.

These are challenging times, but we will emerge stronger. With a
relentless focus on our customers and a preparedness to challenge
ourselves and take bold decisions we can retain our position as
the customers’ champion. This is a great business made up of
great people, with real expertise and I am confident that
together we can succeed.

I know I can count on your support, and I’m looking forward to
working with you.